{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.cloch-n","code":"thing-q1175763","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q1175763/","name":"clochán","alternateNames":["Caher Conor"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.1.0-research.1","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Physical world and living systems","entryKind":"thing","plane":"PHY","domain":["PHY.OBJ"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"A clochán is a traditional Irish dry-stone hut with a corbelled stone roof, commonly presenting a beehive-like exterior and associated with both secular settlement and monastic sites.","purpose":"Enable an agent to recognise a clochán, document its surviving stone construction and archaeological context, assess uncertainty and condition, and identify appropriate access or conservation actions.","scope":{"in":["Identification through masonry, roof construction and enclosed hut form","Individual hut geometry, openings, floor and surviving fabric","Evidence for construction phases, dating and historical use","Physical relationships to associated huts, enclosures and terrain","Condition, conservation history and constraints on access or intervention"],"out":["Entire monasteries, settlements or archaeological landscapes containing clocháin","Dry-stone walling as a general craft or construction system","Corbelled tombs, souterrains and oratories classified by their own architectural and archaeological evidence","Beehives and unrelated buildings described as beehive-shaped","Religious communities, pilgrimage practices and ownership institutions"],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Look for stone courses projecting progressively inward to close the roof; a rounded silhouette alone does not establish corbelled construction. This mechanism is documented for [Clochán na Carriage by Heritage Ireland](https://heritageireland.ie/unguided-sites/clochan-na-carriage/).","Establish whether the principal fabric is dry-laid stone; distinguish original construction from later mortar repairs or reconstruction.","Identify an enclosed hut chamber and entrance, then test competing interpretations such as tomb, underground passage or oratory using contextual evidence.","Record internal and external plans independently; do not make a perfectly circular plan a compulsory identification test.","For roofless remains or replicas, require recorded evidence supporting the clochán attribution and distinguish observed features from reconstructed ones."],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"clochan-identification","name":"Clochán identification","description":"Establish why the structure belongs to this architectural type and what evidence could overturn that identification.","layers":[{"id":"diagnostic-construction","name":"Diagnostic construction","description":"Examine the dry-stone chamber and evidence for inward-stepping roof courses.","findings":[{"id":"corbelled-hut-evidence","name":"Corbelled hut evidence","description":"Record visible diagnostic fabric separately from descriptions of missing or reconstructed roofing.","questions":[{"text":"Which surviving courses demonstrate inward corbelling, and which parts of the roof closure are inferred?","id":"corbelled-hut-evidence-q01","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Is the principal chamber dry-laid, and where do mortar or replacement stones indicate a different phase?","id":"corbelled-hut-evidence-q02","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"architectural-boundaries","name":"Architectural boundaries","description":"Separate clochán attribution from visually similar structures and from the larger site.","findings":[{"id":"classification-and-unit","name":"Classification and unit","description":"Identify the hut being modelled and retain competing interpretations where evidence is incomplete.","questions":[{"text":"What evidence distinguishes this chamber from a corbelled tomb, souterrain or oratory?","id":"classification-and-unit-q01","kind":"boundary"},{"text":"Which walls and passages belong to this hut, and which belong to adjoining structures or its enclosure?","id":"classification-and-unit-q02","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"stone-envelope-and-chamber","name":"Stone envelope and chamber","description":"Document how the wall mass, corbelled roof, entrance and interior form the hut.","layers":[{"id":"walls-and-roof","name":"Walls and roof","description":"Capture the masonry profile and surviving roof closure.","findings":[{"id":"masonry-profile","name":"Masonry profile","description":"Record wall thickness, stone arrangement and corbel offsets without imposing a standard size or ideal dome.","questions":[{"text":"What are the wall thicknesses and successive inward course projections at surveyed sections?","id":"masonry-profile-q01","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"How does the roof close, or what surviving evidence documents its former closure?","id":"masonry-profile-q02","kind":"definition"}]}]},{"id":"openings-and-interior","name":"Openings and interior","description":"Record the chamber plan, entrance construction and floor relationships.","findings":[{"id":"chamber-and-threshold","name":"Chamber and threshold","description":"Distinguish measured interior geometry from assumptions about occupancy or original floor level.","questions":[{"text":"What are the internal plan, clear height and entrance dimensions relative to the recorded floor level?","id":"chamber-and-threshold-q01","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"Which thresholds, lintels, floor surfaces or internal features are demonstrably original, later or uncertain?","id":"chamber-and-threshold-q02","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"archaeological-life-and-context","name":"Archaeological life and context","description":"Connect the hut to evidence for its construction, use, alteration and setting.","layers":[{"id":"chronology-and-use","name":"Chronology and use","description":"Separate dating evidence from interpretations of human activity.","findings":[{"id":"evidenced-occupation-phases","name":"Evidenced occupation phases","description":"Maintain distinct claims for construction, occupation, reuse and abandonment.","questions":[{"text":"Which excavated contexts, dated materials or documentary records constrain construction and subsequent use?","id":"evidenced-occupation-phases-q01","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"What supports each proposed function, and could the evidence belong to a later reuse?","id":"evidenced-occupation-phases-q02","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"setting-and-fabric-history","name":"Setting and fabric history","description":"Relate the hut to neighbouring features and documented changes in its physical form.","findings":[{"id":"associations-and-rebuilding","name":"Associations and rebuilding","description":"Distinguish spatial proximity from demonstrated historical association and identify reconstructed fabric.","questions":[{"text":"Which associated huts, enclosures or religious structures are demonstrably contemporary, and which are merely nearby?","id":"associations-and-rebuilding-q01","kind":"boundary"},{"text":"Which photographs, surveys or intervention records show dismantling, rebuilding or replacement of corbel courses?","id":"associations-and-rebuilding-q02","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"survival-and-intervention","name":"Survival and intervention","description":"Assess observable deterioration and establish the basis for monitoring, access and conservation decisions.","layers":[{"id":"masonry-and-ground-condition","name":"Masonry and ground condition","description":"Track changes in the corbelled envelope and supporting ground.","findings":[{"id":"movement-and-exposure","name":"Movement and exposure","description":"Map defects and environmental observations while keeping causal diagnoses provisional.","questions":[{"text":"Where do repeat observations show displaced stones, expanding openings, wall bulging or loss of ground support?","id":"movement-and-exposure-q01","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"Where are water ingress, runoff or vegetation associated with deterioration, and what further assessment is needed?","id":"movement-and-exposure-q02","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"access-and-conservation-decisions","name":"Access and conservation decisions","description":"Connect proposed actions to fabric sensitivity, recorded restrictions and competent assessment.","findings":[{"id":"permitted-work-and-entry","name":"Permitted work and entry","description":"Record the evidence and authority needed before entering, disturbing deposits or changing the stone envelope.","questions":[{"text":"What current assessment and access conditions govern entry beneath the corbelled roof or through the surviving doorway?","id":"permitted-work-and-entry-q01","kind":"action"},{"text":"Before moving stones, removing vegetation or disturbing the floor, what site-specific permissions, specialist assessment and recording are required?","id":"permitted-work-and-entry-q02","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"evidence-and-external-alignment","name":"Evidence and external alignment","description":"What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.","layers":[{"id":"reported-evidence","name":"Reported evidence","description":"Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.","findings":[{"id":"evidence-confidence-notes","name":"Check these first","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these check these first hold for the sense of clochán this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-confidence-notes-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-real-world-use","name":"Real-world use","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of clochán this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-real-world-use-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards","name":"Failure modes and hazards","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of clochán this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-regional-variation","name":"Regional variation","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of clochán this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-regional-variation-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-neighbours","name":"Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of clochán this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-neighbours-q01","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Record and describe clochans from archaeological surveys and heritage registers.","Guide visitors to publicly accessible sites and to rules for visiting them.","Report damage or collapse at a site to the heritage authority."],"mustNot":["Climb on, dismantle or move stones of a clochan.","Help anyone dig, metal-detect or collect objects at a protected monument.","Lead visitors onto private land without the landowner's permission.","Misattribute a modern replica as an ancient monument."],"requiresHuman":["Restoration, excavation or other works at a clochan."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Clochans are part of the early monastic and rural heritage of Ireland and cannot be replaced.","Heavy visitor traffic can harm fragile dry-stone structures."],"affectedParties":["Local communities and landowners","Visitors","Future generations"]},"owners":{"steward":"The landowner, with the national heritage authority protecting recorded monuments.","roles":[],"masterSystems":["National record of monuments and places"]},"relations":[{"target":"Q2932238","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.cloch-n","Wikidata: Q1175763 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1175763)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"required","items":["Identification confidence: supported; provisional; disputed; unassessed","Internal and external plan: Record each separately: circular; oval; rectilinear; irregular; indeterminate","Chamber dimensions: Internal length, width and surviving height in m, with survey date and uncertainty","Wall and corbel geometry: Wall thickness in m; course projection in mm; measured profile and location","Roof survival: closed; partially open; collapsed; absent; reconstructed; indeterminate","Masonry fabric: Stone type and form; dry-laid or mortared areas; original, repaired or uncertain attribution","Entrance clearance: Clear width and height in m, with threshold and lintel condition","Construction and use attribution: Links to dated evidence and proposed use phases, each with confidence and alternatives","Site association: Located within, adjoining or near an enclosure, hut group, religious site or other recorded feature","Fabric condition: Mapped observations of displacement, bulging, missing stones, water ingress and vegetation; assessment date"]},"recognition":{"applicability":"required","items":["A small round or oval hut of dry stone without mortar.","A corbelled stone roof rising to a beehive shape.","Often in groups on exposed western coasts or around early monastic sites."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["Compare recorded masonry and chamber evidence against clochán identification criteria.","Create a non-invasive measured and photographic record of walls, corbels, openings and floor.","Map original, repaired and reconstructed fabric against documentary evidence.","Compare repeat surveys to flag changes in stones, roof profile or ground support.","Refer suspected instability or damaging interventions to the responsible conservation specialist.","Determine whether a proposed visit, survey or repair fits recorded access conditions and site-specific permissions."]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Loose stones can fall if people climb on or inside the structure.","Weather, livestock and visitors gradually destabilize dry-stone walls."]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["National Monuments Acts, Ireland."]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Clochans are encountered in Irish archaeological landscapes, historic settlements and monastic sites.","They are studied as examples of dry-stone shelter construction and documented for heritage interpretation and conservation.","The original function of a particular hut depends on its archaeological context and may remain uncertain."]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q1175763: clochán","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1175763","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Clochán","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloch%C3%A1n","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["How do authoritative Irish archaeological classifications delimit clochán against related dry-stone huts and corbelled oratories?","What minimum evidence supports identifying roofless remains as a clochán when the corbelled closure is absent?","Which regional variations in plan and roofing are documented sufficiently to define subtypes without creating unsupported divisions?","Which dating and functional claims can be established independently of architectural resemblance or proximity to monastic remains?","What specialist monitoring methods and intervention criteria are appropriate for particular stone types, corbel geometries and exposure conditions?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q1175763/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q1175763/spec.json"],"providers":["Codex"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-12T08:45:21Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"filled","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-07T10:10:25+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass"},"score":1.0}}